


Injured

by Mischel



Series: Merlinktober 2019 [7]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Art, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Fanfic, First Kiss, Getting Together, Injury, M/M, Merlinktober 2019, Merthur - Freeform, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 07:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21096005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischel/pseuds/Mischel
Summary: Arthur's been attacked by an evil witch and is now injured. Both Merlin and Gaius are treating the wound, but they need a distraction for Arthur so that it's easier to remove the arrow from his leg. Merlin decides that the best way to distract Arthur is to kiss him.Merlinktober art + fic.Day 19 - Injured





	Injured

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea in my head for such a long time and now I finally got to write it! I hope you enjoy! :D

Arthur was a king, and above all, a good knight. He knew pain. He’d experienced it many times. Sometimes he got wounded even during the training sessions - although, that hadn’t happened in years.

Today, however, things were slightly different. First of all, they’d been battling a witch, and so the wound inflicted on Arthur was no normal wound, it was magical in origin. The witch was now dead, lying a few feet away from them - Merlin had dealt with her, still kneeling next to her and checking if she really was dead or only unconscious. Gaius was with them, and so Arthur was lucky that he had the old man treating his wound.

So yeah, Arthur  _ knew _ pain. But this one, this one really  _ hurt. _

It was an unusual pain, and Arthur could deal with that, but not for much longer.

Gaius touched the wound.

“Aaa!” It made Arthur yell out, hiss, and then shut his mouth and grid his teeth.

“I’m sorry, my lord, it appears to be enhanced with magic.”

_ Tell me something I don’t know,  _ Arthur wanted to reply, but Merlin was already rushing to their side and gripping his shoulder in support.

“She’s dead,” he confirmed. “How’s it look?”

“It’s not spreading, that’s good news,” Gaius informed them. The pain, however, was getting worse.

“Does it hurt?”

Arthur glared at Merlin in such a way that it answered the question immediately. Merlin bit his lower lip and frowned apologetically. “Sorry.” Then he gently laid his palm above the wound on Arthur’s thigh, took a deep breath, and Arthur could see Merlin’s eyes change from blue to gold just before Merlin closed them.

The pain lessened.

Arthur could finally let out the breath he’d been unconsciously holding, and relax. The pain wasn’t gone entirely, but it was no longer getting worse and it wasn’t as bad as before.

“Thank you,” he smiled at his servant. Merlin smiled back.

Gaius raised his eyebrow at them, to which Merlin clarified, “I took some of his pain away.”

“You can do that?” Gaius asked, impressed. “You never cease to amaze me, Merlin.”

Merlin’s smile disappeared when he looked down at the wound. Arthur couldn’t see it, but judging from Merlin’s face, it didn’t look good.

“There’s something stuck inside,” Gaius suddenly announced after inspecting the wound for a while.

“You mean apart from the arrow?”

Gaius glared at Merlin, who pursed his lips, and then Gaius turned his attention back to the wound. “I meant there’s something stuck to the arrowhead. It won’t be easy to get out, my lord, but hopefully, I can remove the arrow together with the foreign object.”

“Do it,” Arthur insisted. The pain was coming back and getting worse again. “Do it quickly.”

“I won’t lie to you, Arthur,” Gaius said - using his name meant that he was serious. “This will hurt.”

“I can deal with it.”

“Perhaps a distraction would help you.”

“I don’t need that.”

“Arthur-” Merlin’s worried voice interrupted him, but Arthur had already made the decision. He needed the arrow out of him as soon as possible and a distraction would only delay the process.

“It’s decided. Gaius?”

Gaius looked at both of them, obviously unhappy about the turn of events, but got to work. He tightly gripped Arthur’s leg where it wasn’t wounded to keep it in place, and with the other hand took the arrow.

“Aaa!”

“Arthur-”

“ _ Mer _ lin,” Arthur gritted out through his teeth. “Gaius, just do it quickly, please.”

Arthur looked up at Merlin, who was staring right back at him, small tears in eyes. Arthur knew the boy cared about him, but did he really cry because of a little injury? Surely, Arthur had had worse than this, it wasn’t even bleeding that bad.

The arrow was still stuck inside him and it hurt even more, making Arthur’s breath quicken. Maybe the distraction and the removal of the arrow as a surprise wasn’t such a bad idea after all. 

He was still looking into Merlin’s eyes - it calmed him down a little, perhaps - and Merlin took away some of the pain with his magic again. But soon the pain was back, and apparently, the arrow was hard to remove.

“Gaius?”

“I apologize, my lord,” the old man said. “It will be out soon, I just need to . . .” Rather than saying it, Gaius gripped the arrow tighter and Arthur took a deep breath.

Then the unthinkable happened - a distraction landed right on his  _ lips _ , when Merlin unexpectedly  _ kissed  _ him. Immediately, the pain dulled to the back of Arthur’s mind, Merlin’s lips and hands on his face occupying  _ all _ of his thoughts. A perfect distraction, indeed. Arthur raised his hand towards Merlin’s face when-

Gaius got the arrow out.

“Aaaaa!”

Arthur pulled away from the kiss, the pain taking over again, his breaths quicker than before. Merlin didn’t even have to think before he used magic to take the pain away from Arthur again.

“Gaius?” the warlock asked.

Gaius was holding the arrow, now all of them noticing that it was hollow - and thankfully, the foreign object, the source of the spell, was still stuck inside it. The witch must have placed it inside the arrow wrong, otherwise, it would have stayed inside the wound and they might not have even noticed it.

“It’s all out, my lord,” Gaius said as he tossed the arrow away from them. “Merlin?”

Merlin moved away from Arthur to look at the wound. He shook his head. “I can’t feel any magic in it, I think we got it out together with the spell.”

“That’s good. That’s good,” Gaius nodded.

The pain was intense, but it felt like the regular kind of pain again. The pain Arthur could deal with, and it wasn’t getting any worse.

Merlin then looked closer at the wound and positioned his hands above it, whispering a spell. Arthur couldn’t hear what he was saying, and he wouldn’t understand the words anyway - he was just staring at Merlin, looking at him, thinking. Paying attention to his tear-filled golden eyes, his relieved expression, rosy cheeks, black curls.

He’d never realized Merlin fancied him. Well, yes, he might have realized, but he’d never given it a second thought because how could Merlin feel the same way about him? Now, of course, he had the answer. Merlin did like him, and it was mutual.

He watched as Merlin worked, his fingers looking for the proper kind of bandage, wrapping the wound. Arthur hissed, but it didn’t hurt as much, and as he’d said, it wasn’t bleeding that bad.

Gaius was sitting next to Merlin, looking at his work with proud eyes, and when Arthur thought about how clumsy and incapable Merlin seemed when he’d first arrived at the gates of Camelot . . . he felt quite proud of him too.

Half an hour later, Arthur was on his feet, his arm thrown around Merlin’s shoulders. Gaius was helping guide them to their horses, and Arthur couldn’t concentrate and think about anything other than Merlin’s hand clutching his own.

“So, um,” he cleared his throat when they were on their way back, Gaius leading the way, out of earshot. “About the kiss-”

“I’m so sorry if you didn’t like it, I didn’t really know what more to do after already taking the pain away, and I wanted to help you not think about it, and you were just lying there and then you looked at me and I thought that maybe, maybe you wouldn’t mind, and-”

“Merlin,” Arthur stopped his rambling. Merlin shut his mouth, his cheeks pink, as he looked at Arthur. Arthur smiled at him. “I appreciate the kiss, and you were right . . . I don’t mind.”

Merlin was quiet.

“What I’m trying to say is . . .” Arthur looked at Merlin, his eyes curious and waiting, and suddenly he felt happy and warm inside despite the wound. “I wouldn’t mind if we were to kiss again.”

Merlin’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yes, Merlin, really,” Arthur laughed. They both looked up at Gaius, far in front of them on his horse, but still there. “Although, maybe wait until we’re back in Camelot in my chambers.”

Merlin smiled at him. “Agreed.”

“For now, though,” Arthur swallowed nervously as he reached out his hand towards Merlin, but he didn’t have to wait too long.

Merlin took his hand in his and squeezed it, smiling up at him as they rode side by side, on their way back home.

  
And towards a better future,  _ together _ .

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
